4/22/2010

I just uploaded onto the Ctrl.Alt.Shift site this great animation about malaria prevention for distribution in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 14 days reporting in Kinshasa on the education and HIV projects (in winter 2008) was a major turning point in my journalism career, opening my eyes to a world of international development work - which explains why you'll see a mix of music reviews, social commentary and current affairs/global issue topics on my blog! Take a four minute Kitkat break and enjoy the vid:

4/12/2010

I've worked alongside the Fiddy since I was a spotty, chubby, hustling street reporter of a teen. The stunning flick of her blonde hair wasn't exactly what I was expecting when I walked through the doors of south and east London's LIVE Magazine, but watching her co-ordinate a mass of thriving young media runners, always raising the spirits of the room with her 'watch me get down lowww' random dance antics (inbetween stern orders), whilst never failing to produce astounding, innovating results (with whatever team she was working with) - I KNEW I was in the right place for work experience; bear in mind it was also Chantelle who replied quick-time to my last minute desperate call for a uni work placement; after my TRACE mag arrangement fell through in winter 2007...

Fast forward a few months.

Summer of 2008 hits, I've graduated (and lost a bit of weight following the final uni year of depressing malnuitrition), looking for the next step... Fiddy is still doing her thing, substituted the blonde flow for the spacey brunette bob, but still writing for the likes of (the now sadly deceased) London Paper, Mixmag, Dazed&Confused (and many many others), and prepping for her next project - Ctrl.Alt.Shift. It was here, on the epic fouth floor of an office block in Waterloo, that we bumped shoulders once again. Editor Fiddy got me down as an initial volunteer staff writer (eventual deputy editor), and alongside a mad collective of inspirational individuals, we conjured up some groundbreaking global development work, rallying in a UK 'next generation' movement tackling the issues that really matter. The archive of work over the past two years is too long to brief, but the highlights will include two Southbank festivals, four consumer magazines, and a Haiti rave that raised over £10,000 for the earthquake victims - ALL of this and much more with Chantelle anchoring the way...

Fiddy left our Ctrl.Alt.Shift shores last week, moving on to pasture new - but she'll forever be in our (mine especially) hearts and memories as a pioneering journlist, a booty-shaking rebel to the norm and expected, a one-of-a-kind mentor. NO SHE'S NOT DEAD! This is not a eulogy (a Nandos sesh with the Fiddy is around the corner), but it is a much needed, long-time coming tribute to a remarkable woman who has paved the example of how things should get done in this manic world we work in. And no doubt Ctrl.Alt.Shift will appear as a short chapter in her colourful carreer, but from what I've witnessed, hers will be tough shoes to fill (and my yeti size 11's don't help...). Here's my love to Fiddy for the Ctrl.Alt.Shift faithful:

A Tribute To CAS Editor Chantelle Fiddy A born leader, Chantelle Fiddy took on the grand job of Ctrl.Alt.Shift editor in 2008 with the intention to inspire a new generation of socially-minded activists (in her own, unique little way).

Under and alongside the guidance of ‘The Big Boss’ - CAS creator Katrin Owusu - Chantelle has made tidal waves of progress, not only bringing innovation and astounding content to the CAS website and magazines, but also setting up events and opportunities which have engaged and united the CAS community that exists today. Last week, Chantelle left our headquarters to pursue other goals; but she will remain a close advisor and mentor - so in her honour (and as we still sit here mourning her departure), we lift our glasses and enjoy the highlights...

The only way to really gather any sense of how this eccentric, multi-talented, crazy, passionate, workaholic and wonderful woman worked, you’ve just got to see her in action:

Here in autumn 2008, Chantelle was on the frontline of CAS’s Nothing To Declare (anti HIV travel ban) campaign. Never one to back down from a little dress-up role play, she gathered a mass of young volunteers in a series of public stunts to protest against the fact countries like South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Russia had HIV travel restrictions. Passersby got some air in the face and Chantelle’s chants of ‘Say no to the stigma surrounding HIV!’

Our 50 Million Women Missing campaign in spring 2009 was a mad day, namely because we waltzed around central London dressed as ghosts, inevitably getting eventually interrogated by the police – though it was all to raise awareness of the abused and lost women of India. Ever the calm and collected one, Chantelle, was on hand to lead by example and commentate on our day of direct action…

4/06/2010

The YLM Summit last December was a bit of a big deal in my carreer to date, being asked to represent Ctrl.Alt.Shift and be a voice for the millions of young people in the UK hustling to break into the machine that is the media...

With over 150 of my most talented and outspoken peers in the audience, speaking on a panel next to my media mentors and inspirations, my firm point was to affirm there needs to be more of a representation, and therefore a better, more balanced representation of the next generation - who will eventually be writing the tomorrow's headlines. Read here for the full review of the summit. Below is the video documentary (which a few cameo appearances by yours truly):

As part of the Youth-Led Media Network, I am now working with the young steering group (now known as the directors) to build this independant social entreprise - which will act as a hub for all youth-led media, offering channels to mentoring, funding, news, job opportunities and more. It's a long-term project, but we're all set to light a spark in the system. Follow www.youthledmedia.org.uk to get involved in the the project and see how it develops...

Get it get it get it! In your local WHSmith stores, skim past the thousands and get some real brain food down ya.

Seriously, two magazines for £3.95 is a bargain. Please recall issue 4 of the Ctrl.Alt.Shift mag took my team and I three gruelling months to bring our supporters over 80 pages of provocative, passionate, hilarious reports, spanning from Westwood and rapper Giggs talking corruption, to V V Brown and Riz MC Ahmed providing hard-hitting columns. That together with our Guantanamo Bay fashion photoshoot made it a good season's work...

No excuses now. If you couldn't find one before, just look for the D&C package...

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Bio

I am a journalist and digital media/content editor/manager based in London, the former digital content editor of Ctrl.Alt.Shift (Christian Aid's youth political and social issue magazine), former senior content and community manager for Livity (working specifically on Spinebreakers, somewhereto_ and Live Mag UK) - currently working as digital media manager at Excellent Development (a charity supporting communities in countries such as Kenya, India, Mozambique and Zimbabwe to transform their lives with sand dams). In the past I have freelanced for the likes of RWD, the Guardian, The Independent, MTV Staying Alive (and others). I have also been a part-time mentor for young writers at Interact Magazine, an advisor in the ‘Platforma Arts and Refugees Network’ London hub, a mentor for Channel 4's Battlefront campaigners, and one of the directors of the Youth-led Media Network (now the Youth Media Agency). In 2011, I was a London360 blogger for Media Trust's Community Channel, represented as a social reporter at the 2011 London Youth Policy Symposium, and was on the drafting committee representing as a delegate at the UNAIDS Youth Summit On HIV in Mali. On my travels, I have provided global and social news reports from the DRCongo to Vancouver. Currently I am also a trustee for the Youth Media Agency, and adviser for SetOff Magazine.